Let’s Chat about the Best Drugstore Makeup

The drugstore is such a SEA of products…sometimes make it difficult to find the best ones. Today, I share my current best drugstore makeup picks with gems well worth the money!

Hi there! We’ve found ourselves at the start of a new week and I’m definitely feeling much more relaxed than I was a couple days ago. I forced myself on a mini digital detox Friday night, turning my cell phone off for 36 hours. No social media, email, news…the whole jazz. In the end, I’m feeling much better! Sometimes I think we have so much flying at us, clouding our headspace, that it’s good to step away from it for a little while.

Now that my digital detox is over? I’m BACK to talk about the very best drugstore makeup products that I reach for on the regular these days. It’s been a minute since I’ve rounded up some drugstore favorites for you guys and I thought we were overdue for an updated post!

Breaking Down the Best Drugstore Makeup

Obviously, there are WAY more great products at the drugstore than just those I’m sharing with you today. These are my current favorites, though, that make their way into my daily makeup routine quite often. You’ll notice several Wet n Wild products because I maybe went a bit mad in CVS one day. (Seriously, I sat myself on the floor for a good dig through their collection). But, there’s also gems from L’Oreal, Maybelline, NYX and even Essence – who I think we all need to start paying closer attention to.

From a winning foundation to the lipsticks I reach for instead of my favs from YSL, these are the drugstore makeup A-listers.

I have mentioned this miraculous concealer on multiple occasions, but I simply couldn’t put together a Best Drugstore Makeup post without including it. It’s just – SO FRICKIN’ GOOD! It’s creamy, with incredible coverage, doesn’t settle strangely and is just beautiful on the skin. NYX offers this in 22 shades – for a wide range of skintones and even in color correcting shades. I’ve dubbed this a DUPE for the NARS Radiant Creamy concealer and I still very much stand by that statement. I think I just opened about my tenth tube of this stuff. It’s seriously, the best.

One of my all time favorite blushes is a beautiful matte mauve by Estee Lauder. Well, now I’ve found the perfect dupe and I simply had to share it with you guys. It’s the gorgeous L’Oreal dusty rose blush that will be perfect in literally every season of the year and flatter virtually every single person. Basically, it’s universal genius. I’ve never heard much about the blushes from L’Oreal, but they’re suddenly ON my radar! There are 12 shades in the collection and I think I’m going to have to pick up another soon.

Truly, this might be the best drugstore makeup product of 2017. It’s a water-based, matte foundation – that’s perfect for anyone with combination or oily skin. Wet n Wild truly hit it out of the park with this one. The foundation has a beautiful finish on the skin, that’s perfect for photos and virtually lasts all day long. There are 10 shades available, with a pretty wide color selection. I’m a MAC NC 25 and the shade Buff Bisque is a perfect match for me, if that helps. While the product does not have a pump, it has a really great spatula wand for dabbing all over your face for blending. If you’re interested in more details, check out my full review, here.

It really took me a minute to fall in love with this mascara, just because it’s a bit different than any other in my collection. It doesn’t have a real “jet black” look to it, but brings serious volume to your lashes and I really love this for “no makeup, makeup days”. It’s like creating mega-volume that looks totally natural. No one would guess that you’ve been piling on the mascara, even if you have. It builds so nicely and doesn’t flake, at all. I wanted to include this in my best drugstore makeup round-up, because if you have heard great things about the Maybelline Great Lash but found it didn’t bring any volume to you – the Colossal Volume Express mascara is here to help.

This contour duo reminds me of a similar product from Marc Jacobs Beauty, but at a much lower price point. The great thing about Wet n Wild is you can reasonably expect that whatever you buy from then, it will be less than $10. This duo rings up at $4.99, which is a steal! I use the ‘highlight’ side to set my undereye concealer, down my nose and on my forehead. The bronzer/contour side of course is perfect for carving out your cheek bones and sculpting your nose a bit. I, for one, wish I had a small nose and this definitely helps.

One of my favorite YouTubers ‘Glam Life Guru’ recommended these gel polishes from Wet n Wild and I simply had to give them a try. I was definitely skeptical, though – because I’ve tried Wet n’ Wild nail polish before and was not AT ALL impressed. For the price, it wasn’t a big deal…but I found their polishes to chip super easily. To the point, where you might not even get a full day out of them. Well, Wet n Wild erased all of those problems with this winning gel formula and this hot pink shade is my absolute favorite! I’ve been wearing this on both my fingers and my toes around the clock. It lasts…and lasts…and lasts. In fact, I end up taking this off more so because my nail has grown out than any chipping. It’s a frickin’ MIRACLE!!!

I picked this up to recreate a Cannes Film Festival beauty look (see that post, here) and absolutely have fallen in LOVE with this highlighter. It’s very striking and when you add just a few dotes to your cheek bones, match POW takes over! I’ve also tried putting a bit of this in the Wet n Wild matte foundation and the two really do work nicely together to create a summer radiant finish. L’Oreal is definitely more pricey, but this is truly among the very best drugstore makeup product’s I’ve ever tried. It’s well worth it – especially when you can find it on sale.

Since picking up this entire collection of 8 Essence matte lipsticks, I simply haven’t been wearing much of anything else. So, of course it makes sense that I would include my two FAVORITE shades on this list of best drugstore makeup must-haves. All eight shades are gorgeous, but I’ve been really loving this poppy hot pink and bright red through the spring. (And, I’m pretty sure that will continue well into summer.) I did put together a much more detailed review of this entire lipstick collection with swatches galore and…I highly suggest you check that out, here!

What Are YOUR Picks for Best Drugstore Makeup?

Now, it’s your turn. I’d absolutely love to hear what drugstore makeup gems you’re obsessed with! From foundation to mascara, spill the beans and what you’re loving and what I need to add to my collection.

The one problem about the drugstore is you can’t test products out before purchasing, so we need to rely on one another to share what’s good – and what’s not-so-good. (If you’d like to see a post on the WORST drugstore makeup…lemme know.)

Of Course, Thanks for Reading!

As always, I really appreciate you taking the time to read this post and hope you’ll give me a follow if you haven’t already. In 2016, I think I got off the bandwagon of drugstore makeup but I’m happy to be BACK on it and hope to deliver more and more posts on what works and what doesn’t.

I wish you a fabulous week and look forward to talking to you again soon!